Iftffprovememt in machine-guns



ZSheets-Sheet1. EWILDER= 4 I MACHINE GUNS. N .18Z,7Z9, Patented Sept. 26, 1.876.

$72k Wadi e;

WITNESSES: INVENTOR.

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. ZSheets-Sheet 2. E. WILDE'R.

MACHINE cums.v

N0.18Z,7Z9. Patented Sept.26,1876. I

WITNESSES: DTVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS 'mE NORRIS vzvzns co., PHDTOLITHQ. WASNINGTON, n. c

ELIHU WILDER, or MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE:

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINE-GUNS.

Specification forming part oi Letters Patent No. 182.729, dated September 26, 1876; application filed March '20, 1876.

1' 0 all whom it may concern;

,Be it known that l, EL1HU WILDER, of Manchesteryin the county of Hillsborough and Stateof New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Repeating-Arms, and Ido hereby. declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention 'r'lates to improvements in fire-arms commonly known as repeatingarms or batteryguns, where the loaded'car tridges are supplied from ahopper, andforeed into the breeches of separate barrels, and firedfrom them by a rotary apparatus,as will be morefullv described and claimed hereinafter. I

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the invention. Fig. 2 is atop view of thesame. Figs. 3 and 4 are transverse sectionsof the cartridgereceiver, showing the movements of the expeller and the cut-off from the hopper. Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are separate details of various parts. I

A is a main shaft, around which the va rious parts are secured, and to which certain other parts are fastened and made to revolve with it by use of the crank-handle A.

Bis a cam, arranged in a peculiar manner with its circumferential grooves B, so that the plungers O G 0, (0 6 only being repre-'' sented in the drawing,) by the pins '0, are made. to move longitudinally toward and from the barrels D in the following manner." The cam-groove B is seen in Figs. 1 and 2. In Fig. I the pin 0 is at the right-hand end, and the plunger 0 is hard up against the barrel D; at the top, where it has forced-the cartridge into it. In Fig. 2 the pin a is at the-oppositeend, the cam having-been'turned one-quarter around. The grooves are so-constructed' that the plunger is stationary at these two positions of the cam for a short period-z. a, the grooves are parallel with the ends of the cam. Between the position of pin 0 in Fig. 2, to the left, and that of 0 in Fig. 1, there is also a straight groove, at b, for a short distance,

which causes a halt in the'lateral movement of theplunger 0. Thus, at every revolution of the cam with the shaft A, each' plunger O G advances to the barrel to force the cartridge into it, and remains there'l'ong enough'i'o'r the cap to be 'exploded,'as will be explained here-- inafter. Then-the plunger is withdrawn into the other position, as in Fig.2, and the empty cartridge is dropped. At 12 the lateral movement is checked tor the reception of a fresh cartridge, which is carried into the barrel. and forced home by the plunger.

In every revolution of the cam each plunger discharges to every revolution of the shaft. These barrels are so arranged that they fire in succession, and no two together.

E is a rotary lock-carrier, having a hammer, e, at each end. The lock-carrier E isymade secure'to the crank-shaft A, and'rotates in a separate chamber, on one side of-which, at the ends of the plungers G, are brackets or inclined planes f, immediately adjoining the plungers.

' When the lock-carrier E is rotated, the hammer e moves along these planes f until they pass them, when they suddenly strike against the end of a needle-rod, g, in the plunger 0, which is driven against the cartridge, and causes it to explode.

' The hammers e are pivoted in the lock car rier E at c, Fig. 8, and are forced outwardly by a spring, 6, behind them, and areself-op- 'erating by means of the inclined planes The plunger-cylinder G is hollow, having within it,.centrally located,'a rod, g,one end of which is made to impinge'upon' the end of the cartridge to explode it.I This rod is kept, back by a small spring, 8.

The plunger 6 has on each side a slot,'a a. Inside of the plunger 0 are two levers, F F, pivoted at h h, and which extend through the slots a or, beyond the end of theplungers, an? are provided with hooked ends 'l i, tohold the end of the cartridge Grby thehead, which constitute the double extractor. v The lever-clamps have a bulge, j 'j, at a particular part, for the purpose of forcing the levers together, as

surfaces pass into the orifice at j j, as seen in charges and fires twice. There are five barrels D in thisarrangement, consequently ten in the sliding of the plunger these bulging I of the plate, as seen in Fig. 7, at Z.

.hooked ends 11 'i vare'closed upon the loaded cartridge, which has been dropped into position from the hopper, placed above, which is shown in the drawing, Fig. 9, detached from the frame, and then it is carried forward, as

. seen in Fig. 6.

There is sufiicient elasticity in the ends of I thelevcrs F from the fulcrum h to the hook t to allow the hooks t 't' to spring over the head of the cartridge, if they should have closed before catching it.

The method by which the exploded cartridge is dropped will be seen in Fig. 4:. O is the end of the plunger, shown with the hooks it closed on the empty cartridge. A cartridge receiver, Z, is provided, as seen in Fig. 4:, in section, and on top in Fig. 2. The purpose of this receiver is to hold the cartridges as they are dropped from the hopper, which, as shown in Fig. 9, has a separate chute for each gun, and as each cartridge is dropped into its re-' ceiver the motion of the top plate laterally is so timed as to act as a cut-off, to prevent the next following cartridge from dropping down. This receiver is formed by a casing surrounding the plunger, and it is hinged to the inside Under the top plate, at l, is hinged'an ejector, m n, which is represented as resting'on the'section of the slotted cross-brace '0, which stretches between the barrel-frame D and the plunger frame 0. In Fig. 4,-below, will be seen another position of this plate m n. This is produced by the movement of the receiver l in the direction of arrow No. 1, plate 121. sliding over the top of brace 0 until the part 0 comes in contact with 0, when the part at is forced down, and it knocks the empty cartridge G out of its position down through the opening, as seen in- Fig. 4, the hooked jaws it 7 having been opened, as seen vin- Fig. 5,'by the bulg ing surfaces jj.

The movement of the receiver 6 is produced by the means of a pimp, (see Fig. 7,) on the lower side of the plunger 0, which moves in a slot, 1",. in thebottom plate 1'. As the pin 1) travels in thestraight part of the slot, vno

lateral movement is made, but as it enters the angular-slot at r, 'it causes the receiver lsuddenly .to move with arrow No.1, and "thus tilt, 'by a sudden blow, the plate m, which strikes the-cartridge, as before described.

The barrels for the discharge of the cartridges are placed in a reservoir, D, made of any suitable material, which is water-tight, for the purpose of retaining cold water or other cooling substance, to surround and cool the barrels, which, being subjected to the constant discharge of the cartridges, have no time to get cool otherwise, and, where practicable, a stream of water may be passed through .he chamber by inlet and outlet pipes.

The breech L is attached to, oris a part of, the frame-work H, 'which extends under the other parts, and by which the working parts are firmly held and braced.

In the lock-chamber, between L and the frame supporting the cam-wheel, the lock-carrier E rotates, and as the discharges are made by the rotation of the lock, the stock just fills thespace between the breech L and the ends of the plungers G. Theseplungers O, resting firmly against the ends of the barrels D, are supported at the other end by the lock-carrier E, and it against the breech L. Thus,

in firing, the recoil is taken up through the plunger G and lock-carrier E by theheavy breech L, and the cam B and pin 0 are relieved of the shock.

Where the lock-carrier E impinges upon the face of the breech L, friction-rollers may be used.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isv 1.. A double extractor, in combination with the plunger and pin it, for closing the books.

2. The combination of a rotary double cam with a series of reciprocating plungers, ar-

ranged in the arc of a circle. and a series ofstationary barrels, correspondingly arranged on the 'same are of a circle, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A rotating lock, consisting of the middle section of a disk, wide enough only to support one plunger at each end, and having spring-hammers, substantially as and for the.

purpose set forth.

4. The combination of the ejector-plate, the

cartridge-receiver,and the brace o, substan-' tially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination of the cartridge-receiver,

having a slot in the'bottom plate, and theplunger 0, having a pin, r, .to operate substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination of the breech L, lockcarrier E, haviugabu'ttihgshoulders, and plunger 0, whereby therecoil of the gun is transferred to the breech and frame, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony .that I claim the foregoing as my own invention I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ELIHU WILDER.

Witnesses:

ALFRED CLONGHLY, O. M. GONNELL. 

